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Monday, 29 December 2014

My latest commission was a quilt for a lady's 70th birthday on 21st December. I didn't get chance to meet Jane as it was going to be a surprise for her birthday from Shocka one of her daughters but from making the quilt and creating the design I felt I got to know her quite well. Shocka asked me to include the names and nicknames of her mother's six children - Val (Shocka), Robert (Dennis), Etus (Junior), Amos (Tony), Verna (Vee) and Carmen (Gloria) and to also include a palm tree to reflect Jane's Jamaican roots. Jane loves her garden and is particularly fond of roses so I made the background from six fat quarters of Tanya Whelan Barefoot Roses from The Cotton Patch in Hall Green. I liked the idea of juxtaposing the two diverse cultures of Jane's Jamaican upbringing with her English rose garden.

Note the slipper socks are not part of the design!

The trunk of the palm tree was made up from various batik fabrics from my stash.

The coconuts in the centre of the tree were made from the Tanya Whelan rose fabrics to which I added embroidered text.

Shocka asked me to include some of her mother's favourite sayings.

I then embroidered the names of the siblings on the leaves of the tree adding a bit of bling with diamond buttons. Their nicknames were embroidered down the trunk of the tree and a border added using the same green marble fabric used for the leaves to bring the design together and to create a narrow frame.

And here is the finished quilt with a framed photograph of Shocka fastened onto the base of the tree with more diamond buttons .

Saturday, 27 December 2014

One of my favourite Christmas decorations is a ceramic Santa Chef who sits on my kitchen window sill over the festive season. He is not exactly Paul Hollywood but he oversees all the cooking at Christmas keeping a watchful eye on the proceedings and I always remember to thank him by raising my glass to him. I always feel quite sad when it is time to put him away for another year so here he is recreated in a variety of pencils and markers so I can see him all year round. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! x

I will be embroidering your special message, design or
dedication onto cards and wall hangings, making a unique Christmas
gift, prices from £2.95.

Ikon Shop, as well as being Birmingham's only specialist art book shop
is a great place to find cards, magazines, jewellery, books and music by local
authors and bands and gifts that are just that little bit more
interesting and different than those you would find on the high
street.

On Thursday 4th December there is afternoon tea with a tour of the current Imran Qureshi exhibition, followed by festive tea and cake courtesy of ChangeKitchen. Then on Saturday 6th December it's Family Saturday which is open to all ages (families and adults alike) to drop in between 1 - 4pm and be inspired by the current exhibition to make some original artwork.

In fact a really busy week all round at Ikon so come along and join in all the festive fun.

About Me

I am a textile and mixed-media artist who uses embroidery and the art of the stitch to explore the everyday lives of women and how women cope in today's mad world; the stresses, strains and minutiae of life at home and at work.
I use vintage pieces of household linen and fabrics combined with free-machine embroidery to create quilts and one-off pieces.
I graduated from Solihull College with a BA in Fine Art in 2012.
I belong to the the Solihull Embroiderers, the Solihull Branch of the Embroiderers' Guild.